R.M.Bhardwaj

Senior Scientist

Central Pollution Control Board(Ministry of Environment & Forests)‘Parivesh Bhawan', East Arjun Nagar

Delhi – 110 032

E-mail : rmbhardwaj@gmail.com

NATIONAL WATER QUALITY MONITORING PROGRAMME

• Water quality monitoring in India started in 1978 under GEMS Programme.

• National programme of Monitoring of Indian National Aquatic Resources started in 1984 with a total of 120 stations in 10 River Basins.

• The present network comprises of 1700 stations in 27 States and 6 Union Territories spread over the country.

• Monitoring is carried out on Monthly and Half Yearly basis.

• Monitoring network covers 353 Rivers (979 stations), 107 Lakes (117 stations), 9 Tanks, 44 Ponds, 8 Creeks/Seawater (15 stations), 14 Canals (27 stations), 18 Drains and 491 Wells.

National Water Quality Monitoring Programme(contd.)

• Water samples are analysed for 9 Core Parameters (pH, Temperature, Conductivity, DO, BOD, Nitrite, Nitrate, Total Coliform and Faecal Coliform) 19 General Parameters, 9 Toxic Metals and 15 Pesticides.

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pH

Temperature

Conductivity

Dissolved Oxygen

Biochemical Oxygen DemandNitrate-N

Nitrite-N

Faecal Coliform

Total Coliform

COD Chloride

TKN Sulphate

Ammonia Total Alkalinity

Total Dissolved Solids P-Alkalinity

Total Fixed Solids Phosphate

Total Suspended Solids Sodium

Turbidity Potassium

Hardness Calcium

Fluoride Magnesium

Boron

Weather

Approximate depth of main stream/depth of water table

Colour and instensity

Odor

Visible efluent discharge

Human activities around station

Station detail

Saprobity Index

Diversity Index

P/R Ratio

Arsenic Nickel Copper Mercury Chromium Total

Cadmium Zinc Lead Iron Total

BHC(Total) Dieldrin Carbamate 2.4 D

DDT(Total) Aldrin Endosulphan

Parameters for National Water Quality Monitoring

Core Parameters (9)

General Parameters (19)

Field Observations (7)

Bio-Monitoring Parameters (3)

Trace Metals (9)

Pesticide (7)

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CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF MONITORING STATIONSRiver/Stream• Water intake point - community water supply.• Large/medium polluting industries or cluster of SSI.• Religious bathing.• Source of river – pristine quality.• Filling up long distance between existing stations.• D/S of large irrigated areas.• Low flow stretches.• D/S of big cities.• U/S and D/S of confluence of rivers.• Inter-state boundaries.

Lake/Reservior/Pond/Tank• Water abstraction point.• Organised bathing.• Vicinity of significant outfall.• Recreational purpose.

Canal• Irrigation offtake.• D/S of wastewater outfall.• Intake point – drinking water.

Groundwater• Drinking water source located in insanitary condition – sewage cesspool, septic tank,

garbage dump, shallow aquifer.• Tube-wells, hand-pumps or dugwells in industrial area. 6

Designated best use Class Criteria

Drinking water source without conventional treatment but after disinfections

A *Total coliform organisms MPN/100ml shall be 50 or less.

*pH between 6.5 and 8.5

*Dissolved oxygen 6 mg/l or more

*Biochemical oxygen demand 2 mg/l or Less

Outdoor bathing (organised) B *Total coliform organisms MPN/100ml shall be 500 or less

*pH between 6.5 and 8.5

*Dissolved oxygen 5 mg/l or more

*Biochemical oxygen demand 3 mg/l or Less

Drinking water source with conventional treatment followed by disinfection

C *Total coliform organisms MPN/ 100ml shall be 5000 or less

*pH between 6 and 9

*Dissolved oxygen 4 mg/l or more

*Biochemical oxygen demand 3 mg/l or less

Propagation of wild life, fisheries

D *pH between 6.5 and 8.5

*Dissolved oxygen 4 mg/l or more

*Free ammonia (as N) 1.2 mg/l or less

Irrigation, industrial cooling, controlled waste disposal

E *pH between 6.0 and 8.5

*Electrical conductivity less than 2250 micro mhos/cm

*Sodium absorption ratio less than 26

*Boron less than 2mg/l

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Water Quality Criteria

CRITERIA RATIONALE1. Faecal Coliform 500 (desirable)MPN/100ml : 2500 (Maximum Permissible) 2. Faecal Streptococci 100 (desirable)MPN/100ml : 500 (Maximum Permissible)

To ensure low sewage contamination. Faecal coliform and faecal streptococci are considered as they reflect the bacterial pathogenicity.The desirable and permissible limits are suggested to allow for fluctuation inenvironmental conditionssuch as seasonal changes, changes in flow conditions etc.

3. pH: Between 6.5-8.5 The range provides protection of the skin and delicate organs like eyes, nose, ears etc. which are directly exposed during outdoor bathing.

4. Dissolved Oxygen: 5 mg/l or more The minmum dissolved oxygen concentration of 5 mg/l ensures reasonable freedom from oxygen consuming organic pollution immediately U/s which is necessary for preventing production of anaerobic gases (obnoxious gases) from sediments

5. Biochemical Oxygen 3 mg/l or lessDemand 3 day, 27oC:

The Biochemical Oxygen Demand of 3 mg/l or less of the water ensures reasonable freedom from oxygen demanding pollutants and prevent production of obnoxious gases.

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Primary Water Quality Criteria for Bathing

Water Quality -Indian Rivers –2009

Level of Pollution

Pollution Criteria

Riverine length, Km.

Riverine length percentage

Severely polluted

>6 mg/l 6750 15

Moderately polluted

3-6 mg/l 8550 19

Relatively clean

<3 mg/l 29700 66

WATER QUALITY STATUS

Analysis of long term data with respect to BOD (indicator of organic pollution)

IDENTIFICATION OF POLLUTED WATER BODIES

• CPCB identified 10 polluted stretches for prioritising pollution control efforts in 1988-89.

• Number of Stretches increased to 37 during 1992-93, 86 during 2001 and 178 during 2006

• Priority action planned in 2009.• Polluted Rivers prioritised in five categories(BOD> 30 mg/l,

Between 20-30 mg/l, Between 20-10 mg/l, Between 6-10 mg/l and Between 3-6 mg/l).

• The efforts are initiated by concerned Agencies to restore the desired level.

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RIVER ACTION PLAN

• CPCB identified polluted water bodies, which leads to formulation of action plan for restoration of the water body.

• Based on CPCB’s Recommendations, Ganga Action Plan was launched in 1986 to restore the water quality of River Ganga by interception, diversion and treatment of wastewater from 27 cities/towns located along the river.

• Based on the experience gained during implementation of the Ganga Action Plan, Govt of India extended river cleaning programme to other rivers.

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TOWNS CONSIDERED UNDER NATIONAL RIVER ACTION PLAN

River No. of Towns River No. of Towns

Ganga 74 Brahmini 3

Yamuna 22 Chambal 3

Damodar 12 Gomti 3

Godavari 6 Krishna 2

Cauvery 9 Sabarmati 1

Tungabhadra 4 Khan 1

Satluj 4 Kshipra 1

Subarnrekha 3 Tapi 1

Betwa 3 Narmada 1`

Wainganga 3 Mahanadi 1

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Strengthening of water Quality Monitoring Network

• Number of monitoring stations will be increased to 2500 during 11th Plan and 5000 during 12th Plan.

• The optimum network to cover all the surface water bodies would be about 10000 monitoring stations.

• Monitoring of micro pollutants will be strengthened with quality assurance.

• Optimization of monitoring locations, parameters and frequency of monitoring.

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Major Water Quality Issues

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Common issues of Surface and Ground water• Pathogenic (Bacteriological) Pollution• Salinity• Toxicity (micro-pollutants and other industrial pollutants)

Surface Water• Eutrophication• Oxygen depletion• Ecological health

Ground Water• Fluoride• Nitrate• Arsenic• Iron• Sea water intrusion

Outcome of National Monitoring Programme Every year a compendium of water quality statistics is published and

circulated to various scientific institutes and processed data is put on the web site for easy access.

Basin sub basin Inventory of water pollution is prepared and published for all the major river basins in the country.

Water quality atlas is prepared to assess the fitness of river water for desired uses in the country.

Water quality data is used for Identification of Polluted Water Bodies based on violation of desired water quality criteria for designated uses.

Water quality data formed the basis for Formulation of River Action Plan (38 rivers) and Identification of Pollution Sources in 167 cities for interception and diversion of municipal wastewater and stricter surveillance of industrial sources.

Water quality data is used for Query Response i.e. to reply Parliament Questions, VIP reference, Public Queries, Public Interest Litigation filed in Supreme Court and Various High Courts and to fulfill the requirement of Non Governmental Organisation, Students, and Researchers.

Providing data to GEMS Programme on Water on annual basis for 72 stations for global data base. 16

Sustainability of infrastructure and maintenance of instruments and equipments.

Financial as well as Manpower resources are inadequate and reducing due to policy shift.

Travel to long distances for monitoring and preservation of samples in warm weather conditions adversely affect the results.

Analysis results needs in-depth validation and repeated interaction with laboratories.

Improper reporting of units, variation in analysis methods and quality control of chemicals are cause of concern.

Lack of consistent training for laboratory and field staff.

Constraints in Maintaining the Network

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Problems in data validation due to fluctuation in water quality.

Flow in many rivers dwindles due to short period of monsoon.

Removal of outliers during validation of data may devoid valuable information related to flushing of Industrial effluents responsible for episodal pollution and fish kill.

Limitations of Monitoring Programme

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Major Factors Responsible for WQ Degradation

Municipal Sewage: 423 class I cities and 499 class II towns harboring population of 300 million generate about 38271 mld of wastewater of which only 11787 mld is treated. Treatment capacity address to about 30% of municipal sewage.Domestic sewage is the major source of pollution in India in surface water which contribute pathogens, the main source of water borne diseases along with depletion of oxygen in water bodies. Industrial Effluents: About 57,000 polluting industries in India generate about 13,468 mld of wastewater out of which nearly 60% (generated from large & medium industries) is treated.

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Major Factors Responsible (contd.)

Sewage along with agricultural run-off and industrial effluents also contributes large amount of nutrients in surface water causing eutrophicationA large part of the domestic sewage is not even collected. This results in stagnation of sewage within city and contaminate the groundwater which is the only source of drinking water in large number of cities.Non-point sources also contribute significant pollution loads mainly in rainy season. Pesticides consumption is about 1,00,000 tonnes /year of which AP, Haryana, Punjab, TN, WB, Gujarat, UP and Maharashtra are principal consumers

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What Needs to be done

1. Preparation of proper action plan and implementation to achieve the desire water quality is required.

2. In some polluted river stretches due to lack of assimilative capacity, stringent effluent discharge standard for industries are required to be prescribed.

3. In some polluted river stretches, e.g. Delhi stretches of Yamuna, dilution water is required to meet the desired water quality criteria.

4. Seven States which are using 90% of pesticide for Agriculture activity, surface / ground water is required to be monitor critically with respect to pesticides residue.

What Needs to be done (Contd..)

5. 90% of the class II cities are not having any treatment of domestic waste water. Phase wise this waste water should be treated and disposed.

6. Water recycle and reuse should be given major thrust. 7. Rain water harvesting should be promoted in all the

developmental activities.8. Interlinking of river(s) to be experimented and expedited to

made available more water in polluted river to achieve the desired water quality.

THANKS FOR PATIENCE

DEDICATED TO WATER QUALITY MANGERS

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